Yesterday marked the beginning of community meetings to receive public input on the City’s 2006 operating budget. For those who didn’t get the chance to participate, two more meetings are scheduled to take place this week:
Wednesday, February 8 from 7 — 9:30 p.m. at the East York Civic Centre (850 Coxwell Ave.)
Thursday, February 9 from 7 — 9:30 p.m. at the Scarborough Civic Centre (150 Borough Dr.)
You can also provide input by calling your councillor directly, or by making a deputation at the next joint meeting of the Budget Advisory and Policy and Finance Committees on Thursday, February 16 at City Hall. (Call 416-392-6662 to get your name on the list to speak.)
Due to the enormous financial shortfall the city is facing, many important programs probably aren’t going to receive the funding they need this year, unless the provincial government hands over the cash Toronto requires to care for many of the services the Province used to provide. Writing or calling to your MPP might be a good idea too.
Urban planning is one of the many departments desperately in need of more cash. At the forum on tall buildings at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts January 25, Tony Coombes said everyone is talking about the financial crisis facing the TTC, but no one is talking about the financial crisis facing urban planning. As Dylan mentioned in a previous post, our built environment can affect people’s behaviour and sense of community. How we plan our city will have ramifications for years to come. With so many changes happening so quickly, investing in urban planning, like investing in public transit, is not something we can afford to put off.
